Calendaring applications allow users to set up events, send invitations to an event, and to be reminded when the event is about to start. Information, such as location, or bridge details for conference calls, may be associated with an event. However, conventional calendaring applications do not provide any support for other methods of communication that participants might want to establish. In particular, they do not provide a mechanism to provide a consolidated view of all communications options for event participants. Existing techniques also do not allow automatic generation of ad-hoc groups across different communications services. To compensate for this inability, participants will often set up other communication channels outside the scope of the event, according to the particular needs of each communications service, using manual techniques.
Examples include setting up a chat room for selected participants on a conference call (perhaps all participants from the same company), potentially across multiple systems; manually exchanging phone numbers before going to an industry conference; exchanging contact information before going to a music festival, and the like.
In addition to being time-consuming to set up, the associations established for the event continue to exist after the event ends, unless the participant manually deletes the association. In some cases, it is difficult or even impossible to delete an association once established; after information is made public, it generally cannot be made private again. For example, once a phone number has been given out, it cannot be taken back.
One conventional solution to this problem is to enhance the contact information or reminders associated with calendar programs. This solution, however, does not provide integrated linkages to other communications mechanisms, and does not provide a consolidated view across multiple communication services. It also does not provide a mechanism to reliably delete associations after the event has finished.
Another conventional solution to this problem is to create “portal” applications that combine multiple applications. For example, there are IM programs that will import users from other IM programs. However, these tend to have very limited scope (e.g. only selected IM programs) and very limited consolidation (e.g. combined list that cannot reflect the look and feel of the original programs). These programs also do not integrate well with the calendar applications, and must be launched separately. They also do not provide a mechanism to reliably delete associations after the event has finished.
Yet another conventional solution to this problem is a web conferencing program that includes the capability to initiate sidebar communications with other participants, or to communicate with all other participants. However, such programs do not support flexible ad-hoc groups within the participant list, and they do not support communications across multiple platforms or communications services with a single action.
Accordingly, in light of these disadvantages associated with conventional approaches to coordinating communication between multiple participants of a scheduled event, there exists a need for methods, systems, and non-transitory computer readable media for creating and managing ad-hoc groups linked to an event and spanning multiple modes of communication.